Posts Tagged ‘rabin’

“This is the first day in the State of Israel without the late Shimon Peres. Shimon Peres was among our greatest leaders, who left behind him a long trail of unique achievements. On behalf of the entire Jewish People, the citizens of Israel and the Government of Israel, I convey deep condolences to Shimon’s family.

Shimon Peres lived a life rich in deeds, which symbolize the history of a revived Israel – the life of an ancient people that marches, revived, on its land, the power of our people to defend itself, and is building up its homeland with sweat and courage.

When Shimon, as a youth, went to the Ben Shemen agricultural school, he wrote: ‘The goal of my life is to serve my people.’ He realized this goal. He believed with all his heart in the goals of Zionism and was a man of inspiring vision. Shimon accompanied the state since before its birth, stood by the cradle, and made sure that it could stand on strong legs. He was at the side of David Ben-Gurion during fateful decisions, at a time when the young Israel was fragile and its military strength had yet to be realized. Shimon greatly contributed to the building up of our strength. He made a unique contribution to the strengthening of our security both openly and in areas that are best left unspoken.

One of the summits of his life was the successful operation to free those of our people who had been hijacked to Entebbe. As Defense Minister in the government of Yitzhak Rabin, Shimon played a crucial role in the decision to dispatch our planes and commandos into the heart of Africa. But alongside this, alongside all of his work on behalf of the security of Israel, Shimon Peres never stopped striving for peace and believing in peace. His hand was always extended toward historic reconciliation with our neighbors. Even if this reconciliation tarried, he taught us not to give in to despair but to cling to the hope and to continue working.

Shimon Peres was an MK for almost 50 years. He served as a minister in various governments in many and varied portfolios. He twice led our country as Prime Minister. He opened our international links, contributed to stabilizing the economy and worked greatly on behalf of immigration from the USSR and Ethiopia.

We all know that political life was not always kind to Shimon. Alongside his achievements, he also knew disappointment, he also knew difficult moments, he also knew pointed criticism. But through his great strength of will Shimon continued to move forward, imbued with the aspiration to advance the development of the country that he loved so much, and imbued with the aspiration to bring peace.

There were many things that we agreed on and the number of these grew over the years. But we also had our disagreements, which are a natural part of democratic life. Even in these instances, the respect that I felt for Shimon was never impaired. On the contrary, as time passed our relations became closer. I esteemed him. I loved him. During his tenure as President, we had many personal meetings, often lasting deep into the night. These were fascinating, in-depth meetings in which I learned to recognize the man, to recognize his life’s story and to listen to his thoughts.

Only two months ago I came with my wife to launch the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation. We shared a common vision – a vision of progress and technology. Shimon saw the presence of Israel at the forefront of scientific and technological progress, and rightly so, as a key to human welfare, the key to peace. At that meeting I was stirred by his curiosity, his ability to mobilize a vision of the future world. After the ceremony, we sat for a long time. We arranged to meet again, to continue to promote the common vision of technology and innovation – and yes, also peace.

Unfortunately, this meeting will not take place. The prayer which I made on behalf of all citizens of Israel from the podium of the United Nations, the prayer that I offered for his recovery did not materialize. But our consolation is that so many things in the life of Shimon did come true. And the seven years of Shimon Peres’ presidency were a rejuvenation. He won the public’s bipartisan, cross-sector admiration. Love of the people was forthcoming and warmed his heart.

Shimon was a man of vision, he was a man of peace, he was also a man of letters, and without these two elements there can be no national revival. For all these reasons Shimon won worldwide international recognition. Heads of state sought him out and honored him. Many of them, along with us, will accompany him on his last journey to eternal rest in the soil of Jerusalem. Shimon’s work will yet remain with us for many generations. He will be enshrined in my heart always and etched in our hearts forever.

May his memory be blessed.”

President Reuven Rilvin

“This is a sad morning for all of us. There is not a chapter in the history of the State of Israel in which Shimon did not write or play a part. A man who was a symbol for the great spirit of this people. Shimon made us look far into the future. As one man he carried a whole nation on the wings of imagination, on the wings of vision, and we loved him dearly. We loved him even when we did not see things eye to eye, because he made us dare to imagine not what was once here, nor what is now, but what could be.”

Minister Miri Regev

“We are officially convening the ministerial Committee on Symbols and ceremonies, which today mourns the passing of former President and Prime Minister Shimon Peres. We are preparing for a very large and complex funeral that will coordinate very many elements. Here today is the Director General of the Foreign Ministry and the Jerusalem District Police commander, as well as representatives from the Defense Ministry, Knesset, and the Prime Minister’s Bureau, among others. We are, in effect, working to coordinate the entire effort.

I would like to thank Minister Ofir Akunis and Minister Sofa Landver, who are present as members of the committee. We will work under the ‘Havatzelet’ protocol to facilitate a respectable funeral that will allow the citizens of the country and the world leaders who will arrive to pay proper respect to former President Peres. Therefore, as soon as the committee votes on its decisions, everyone will go to work in his area and we will meet from time to time on a more reduced basis to oversee coordination.

There will be several centers: The airport, to which the leaders will arrive. The second center is the Knesset. The third is Mt. Herzl, including the interment itself. There are many elements here that we will need to coordinate so that everything goes smoothly and respectably, despite all the constraints we are under and the complexity of the event. There is also, of course, Shabbat that we must take into account and see that we finish on time so that all of the police and other elements working on the event can return home in time for Shabbat.”

Yad Vashem

“Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center, mourns the passing of the ninth President of Israel, Shimon Peres and offers its sincerest condolences to his family and all of the people of Israel.

Former President Peres was a dedicated supporter of teaching the legacy of the Shoah, so that the Jewish people – and all humanity – may have a brighter future. Shimon Peres worked tirelessly to further the causes of justice and peace for all humankind.”

Israel Atomic Energy Commission

“Israel Atomic Energy Commission (IAEC) Director Ze’ev Senir and the commission’s employees and retirees mourn the passing of former President, Prime Minister and Defense Minister Shimon Peres. His work is interwoven with the work of the IAEC since its founding.

Shimon Peres substantially contributed to the establishment of the Negev Nuclear Research Center and the foundation of Israel’s nuclear policy as a significant contribution in ensuring the national strength of the State of Israel. His legacy will accompany the work of the IAEC in the future as well. May his memory be blessed.”

Jerusalem (TPS) – Chairman of the Knesset Internal Affairs and Environment Committee MK David “Dudi” Amsalem (Likud) declared on Tuesday that he intends to propose a new bill during the winter session which would prohibit criminal investigation of the prime minister for minor offenses that would carry less than a six-month prison sentence.

“Being the prime minister of Israel is the most important job in the country,” wrote MK Amsalem in a Facebook post. “He cannot be busied with investigations on a daily basis. There has not been one prime minister in the last thirty years that has not been involved in investigations—from Rabin and his wife’s Dollar Account affair to Barak and the NGOs to Sharon’s Greek island, Olmert and his travels, Netanyahu and the gifts and bottles, and so on.”

The proposal also follow on the heels of the recent investigation opened against Prime Minister Netanyahu who allegedly approached an advertising office in 2007 with the aim of purchasing advertising space in the Arab press for his political war against former Labor leader Ehud Barak.

The Israel Police also recently began probing allegations that the prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, had accepted expensive gifts as part of a greater corruption scheme.

“Nevertheless, since it would be inappropriate for the prime minister not to answer for those crimes, it is proposed that the duration of the rest of his term not be counted within the period of the statute of limitations and it will as such be permitted to prosecute him on the matter after his term ends.”

According to the Likud, the new law would not be applicable retroactively, meaning that it would have no effect on the investigations currently being conducted against Prime Minister Netanyahu. As such, Netanyahu’s son, Yair, is soon to be called to testify to the police about the allegations against his father.

The initiative sparked great controversy within the political arena. “No one is above the law,” said Zionist Union MK Tzipi Livni. “Investigations are not detrimental to the public, but to its benefit, as it is deserving of an immaculate leadership. An honest prime minister would reject such a proposal.”

According to the Honenu legal aid society, Israel’s secret police has been operating at least one agent provocateur in an attempt to trap rightwing activists in the performance of extremist acts. Honenu has dubbed the undercover officer Champagne 2.

Shortly after the capture of Prime Minister Rabin’s murderer Yigal Amir, Israelis learned that Amir had been guided and controlled by a Shabak agent named Avishai Raviv, whose code name was Champagne and whose mission, many believed, was to encourage and fabricate activities of right-wing extremists. He was, for instance, the behind the poster showing Rabin in an SS uniform, just days before the murder, making sure it appeared on the news. And there was testimony cited in at least one newspaper article that Raviv was urging Amir to kill the prime minister. In his trial, Raviv was able to get off by saying he was merely carrying out his duties as an agent provocateur.

The new undercover agent provocateur has been posing for two year as a member of the Lehava organization, and used his fake identity to incite Jewish activists over Whatsapp and Facebook. The officer was exposed after he had tried last week to recruit an informer from a Samaria community. The latter called on Honenu for legal advice and informed the officer he was not interested.

The officer contacted him for about 15 times from two different phone numbers, which the resident kept on his smartphone. Later, when the same resident entered a Whatsapp group where he is a member, he spotted the same number the officer had used to call him, but now the user was presenting himself as one of the gang of Jewish extremists, just aching to hurt himself some Arabs.

The Samaria resident approached the group leader who quickly removed the officer, and the latter protested, claiming that his name was Miro Amzaleg and that he was a Lehava activist from Jerusalem. But when he was challenged to come up with anyone who knows him in Lehava he was only able to provide names of people he had been in virtual contact with.

The undercover officer’s Facebook page, which has since been taken down, offered posts containing incitements against Arabs. One shares a story about the Jewish man who later burned down the bilingual school in Jerusalem, with the comment: No Arabs, No Terror Attacks. According to Honenu, the fact that the post was dated about a month before the arson might suggest that the agent provocateur was involved in inciting the man, Shlomi Tuito, to carry out the crime. There were several other posts that could be seen as calculated provocations of young and easily influenced fringe Jews, similar in profile to Yigal Amir.

One telling episode had to do with the picture of Rabbi Kahane’s grandson Meir Ettinger on the morning of his release from administrative detention earlier this month, a picture which the undercover officer posted online ahead of all the other media. The fact was Ettinger had been let out of jail earlier than scheduled and was left standing there, waiting for his family to come pick him up. No one else had the picture, and when reporters and activists asked “Amzaleg” how he got it, he said his relative, a prison guard, had sent it to him. But a quick investigation revealed that Ettinger had been standing in the company of three police detectives who handed him his release papers and shot his pictures from every conceivable angle. The detectives were the only possible source for the image, and when the agent posted it he outed himself.

Honenu is in the process of examining two-years’ worth of correspondence the officer had kept with activists, and they intend to turn them into a lawsuit. The officer is known to Honenu as a recruiter of Jewish residents of Judea and Samaria to inform on their neighbors. That part, as repulsive as it may sound, is not illegal. However, Honenu officials contend, for the same police officer to be involved in inciting young Jews to commit acts of violence against Arabs should be grounds for suspension, followed by dismissal.

The Netanyahu government reportedly is going full-speed ahead although behind the scenes to develop the controversial E-1 area in Maaleh Adumim that would effectively give Israel a Jewish continuity to Jerusalem.

Peace Now alleged this morning that the government is planning 6,372 residential units in the area as part of a larger program for 55,548 new homes for Jews in Judea and Samaria, including a new community near Bethlehem and one in the Jordan Valley.

An Israeli official said that no final decision has made been concerning E-1, but it can be assumed that the official decision will come at the right time politically, perhaps when the Palestinian Authority is so illegitimate that Prime Minister Netanyahu can thaw the de facto building freeze.

Housing Minister Yoav Galant, of the Kulanu party, denied that plans are being made.

Peace Now alleged that the ministry allocated to Ma’aleh Adumim $9.5 million in November 2014, without issuing a tender, for planning the area. In addition, another $200,000 was allegedly paid to outline future construction sites east of Jerusalem as well as to expand other communities in Judea and Samaria.

Building in E-1 would be the Waterloo for the Palestinian Authority, while not developing it would be the same for Israel.

The Bush and Obama administrations have pressured Israel several times not to build in E-1, a 4.6-square mile area that has been designated for construction since the time that Yitzchak Rabin was Prime Minister in the 1990s.

It would be no surprise if the government is going ahead with building plans, in light of the decimation of the two-state proposal and the Palestinian Authority’s hard and fast position that there is nothing to negotiate with Israel unless it agrees to all of the PA’s political and territorial demands.

However, the publicity of the plans for construction is a red flag for the Palestinian Authority as well as for the Israeli left-wing camp. The Haaretz newspaper, which often acts as President Rivlin agent for Peace Now, reported Monday:

The Israeli fear is that without ‘facts on the ground’ in E-1, the giant settlement, which has some 40,000 residents, could end up an unviable Israeli enclave in a Palestinian state.

The newspaper quoted Peace Now director Yariv Oppenheimer, as saying that the documents detailing plans for E-1 and elsewhere in Judea and Samaria show that the government of Israel is not wasting a single day and is investing tens of millions of shekels in expanding and establishing new settlements. Behind the scenes they are secretly planning the establishment of a bi-national state.

The answer to these questions may depend on whether you believe that the Shin Bet prevented at least one of the suspects in the case from praying with tefillin and lighting Hanukkah candles. The Shin Bet has vehemently denied the allegations, which have not cropped up since, indicating they were entirely false.

It may depend on whether you believe the Shin Bet tortured the suspects, whatever “torture” means.

The latest counter-charge in what has become one of the ugliest Made in Israel sagas since the assassination of Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin alleges that undercover cops crashed the party and staged the hate dance.

That would answer several questions, such as:

How did the “guests” bring in knives and semi-automatic rifles into the wedding hall?

Why was the fate dance filmed?

How did the video get into the hands of Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon?

The conspiracy theory, with plenty of reminders of the assassination of Rabin that was preceded by Shin Bet agent Avishai Raviv being filmed with a picture of Rabin in an SS uniform prior to Rabin’s murder, spread like wildfire Sunday.

The owner of the wedding hall reportedly claims that several men in civilian clothes and with security IDs entered the wedding hall towards end of the wedding party.

The entire dance appears to have lasted about a minute or two, with the most horrid scenes being repeated several times in the media.

The father of the groom insists that the “guests” were not invited and that he was in another part of the hall during the hate dance.

On the other hand, a bunch of screwballs sometimes crash a wedding party at the end, do their shtick and leave.

If the conspiracy theory is true, why would the Shin Bet go to such extreme means to discredit the guests? Is the Shin Bet so ticked off at being defamed by allegations of torture and banning prayer that it has to go such extremes just to “get back” at them?

Or perhaps the Shin Bet staged the hate dance so it would have a legal reason to demand the list of guests, giving them on one page the names of what may be the vast majority of some imagined nationwide Jewish terror cell that indeed is damaging the country and could incite a full-scale Palestinian Authority war if not snuffed out to the core.

There also is one side-effect to the latest conspiracy theory. Countless residents of Judea and Samaria have roundly criticized spreading the allegations, not because they are true or false but because they divert attention away from the number on task in Judea and Samaria, and that is to weed out the extremists who are growing under the feet of normal people.

Whatever your answers to the questions, remember one thing: Those who shut up are those who probably are the ones who can be believed.

Ashkenazi Jews mark the anniversary of a death, known in Yiddish as “yarzheit,” on the day that someone has passed away.

The custom of Sephardi Jews is to begin observing the death from the Shabbat before the anniversary.

In Israel, there is a unique custom.

The yarzheit of assassinated Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin is marked for two weeks or even more, depending on the calendar. He was murdered on the 12th of the Hebrew month of Chesvan, or November 4 on the Gregorian calendar.

This year, the Hebrew date was this past Sunday, but as usual, rallies and speeches, supposedly in memory of Rabin, began days before to take advantage of Saturday night, when most people do not work.

November 4 is next Wednesday, but mid-week is not very convenient to attract thousands of people to ostensibly mourn Rabin but exploit the murder to rant against Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, against a Jewish presence in Judea and Samaria and for “democracy” which means one must agree with the agenda of a decreasing minority that shivers at the growing influence of national religious Jews in society.

Yigal Amir, the man convicted and jailed for life for shooting and killing Rabin, was a national religious Jew. Now, 20 years since the assassination, leftist leaders and Israel’s largest media outlets still blame rabbis and the entire national religious community for the tragedy.

Saturday night, President Reuven Rivlin will deliver a speech at Tel Aviv’s Rabin Square, where he was murdered. The address is entitled “Remembering the murder, fighting for democracy” and will include an address from former President of the United States Bill Clinton.

Next year, November 4 falls on Friday, and Cheshvan 12 is on a Saturday, which means it will be a lot easier to draw large crowds. On the other hand, there are only eight days between the two dates, but the organizers will find a way to stretch it out.

Jews have observed Yarzheits for centuries on the day of a death and with prayers and introspection by remembering the righteous character and good deeds of the deceased. Marking the Yarzheit on a different date, because it is more convenient for political purposes, insults the soul of the deceased and loses the entire significance of Yarzheit.

Chabad notes:

This religious commemoration is recorded not as a fiat, but as a description of an instinctive sentiment of sadness, an annual rehearsing of tragedy, which impels one to avoid eating meat and drinking wine–symbols of festivity and joy, the very stuff of life.

It was a day set aside to contemplate the quality and life-style of the deceased, and to dwell earnestly upon its lessons.

Yahrzeit is a day when one relives the moment of doom, perhaps even fasts to symbolize the unforgettable despair. It is a day conditioned by the need to honor…death as in life, through study and charity and other deeds of kindness….

One slows one’s activities and spends a good part of the day safely in the synagogue.

The sad part of the yearly commemorations is that whether or not one did not like his acceptance of the Oslo Accords, Rabin’s contributions to the country as IDF Chief of Staff are lost in the rumble of politics.

The annual “RabinFest” in memory of the assassinated Prime Minister is in high gear

Noa Rotman, a granddaughter of assassinated Prime Minister Yitzchak Rabin, posted a message on Facebook this week that “perhaps there will be a holiday after the murder of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu.”

She later explained that her posting simply was “black humor,” according to Israel’s Hebrew-language Maariv website.

Rotman’s mention of murder was in reply to a question if there is a holiday on the anniversary of the death of Rabin, which is being marked this week.

Rotman, taken aback by a reply that asked her “what is your intention” concerning the suggested holiday after Netanyahu us killed, wrote:

Whoa! Stop. Can I ask you a question? Is this worth an item? 20 years after the murder? It was black humor in the specific context of the reaction to a status.

If all you are asking from me is a reaction…every status that I wrote is in appeasement. Have a good and quiet work for all of us, Allah willing [with] a bit more important items than secondary ones.

The “RabinFest” media have ignored the article by Maariv, and if it remains buried, government prosecutors don’t have to go through the motions of investigating Rabin’s granddaughter for incitement for murder, contrary to an immediate criminal probe that would have been sprung into action if a right-winger had written, God forbid, that maybe there will be a holiday after the murder of a leftist leader.